Professional Landscape Lighting Ideas

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Professional Landscape Lighting Ideas

Professional landscape lighting allows you to enjoy your landscape after the sun goes down, increases the level of security around the home and can add value to the home if installed correctly. Professional outdoor landscape lighting can be elaborate or simple depending on the purpose of the lighting and your budget.

Highlight Trees and Shrubs

Placing a spotlight behind or beneath a tree or large shrub highlights the braches and growth of a mature tree. Also, a spotlight placed higher in the tree can highlight just the upper portion of the tree creating a dramatic effect during the winter after the tree loses its leaves and the bare branches are displayed.

Light a Walkway

A walkway should have lights that shine down along the side of the walkway to prevent glare from blinding the person walking. A lighted walkway or path allows you to walk about your garden without fear of tripping or stepping on animals, such as snakes or frogs, that patrol the garden in the evening.

Illuminate a Border

Illuminating the border of a flowerbed is a good way to draw attention to a certain landscape planting or feature such as a group of blooming shrubs. Not only will you highlight the beauty of the shrubs and plants but guests cannot walk into what may be a thorny hazard.

Highlight Architecture

Walls, trellises, columns or arches are all architectural features that can be highlighted by professional landscape lighting. Lights that highlight an architectural feature are usually placed below the feature to flood the feature with light in the evening.

Fountains and Water Features

Fountains and water features can be highlighted by placing lights that are designed to be submerged in water without an electrocution risk under the water below the water feature. Colored lights are popular to use when illuminating water features.

Solar Lighting

The use of solar lights is becoming popular because they are inexpensive and can be used anywhere the sun shines on them long enough to recharge them for the evening. There are no electrical wires to deal with and they are usually made of durable material. Also, because the level of light they emit is usually low, they can be used around light sensitive plants. For example, some plants like chrysanthemums will not bloom or will have their bloom period delayed if exposed to high levels of some types of artificial light at night.

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Keywords:
landscape lighting, lighting up a landscape, placing lights in the garden

About this Author

Based in Rockdale Texas, Jim Gober has been writing garden-related articles for 25 years. His articles appear in several Texas newspapers including The Rockdale Reporter, The Lexington Leader, The Cameron Herald and The Hearne Democrat. He is a Master Gardener and Certified Texas Nursery and Landscape Professional. He holds bachelor degrees in English Writing from St. Edward's University and Finance from Lamar University.